Nice to be back in the UK and take the Exige out for a drive today. The mirror was flapping around and wasn't at all tight. I twisted it around which would normally tighten the nut on the bolt, but it just cracked and unfortunately sheered all the way through seconds after on its own due to the weight of the mirror.

So that's the end of that mirror stalk, which means I'm now very motivated to make progress with the new ones in Aluminium. I'm keeping the design very simple. The base of the mount which attaches to the door has to have a decent thickness to it to provide stability, but the stalk will then taper into a thinner stalk than the TF stalk is as this means that it can go direct into the ball joint with no gaps. To save on costs, the stalk will be symmetrical so works on both sides of the cars. I'm not sure if the ball joint will be a separate part or whether it can all be done as one part, ideally, it would be one part. The threads will be tapped directly into the base of the mount so the same bolts as the OEM mirrors can be used.

Here is a crude drawing of the side view of the mirror. New 3D drawings are being worked on at the moment.

Share on other sites

A little update, been working on the design in CAD! It's not 100% final yet (although close) as it needs to go through stress tests before I'd sell to any friends.

My goal with these is to make them as durable as possible, but at the same time, to reduce the thickness of the design as much as possible. It's a fine balance!

The stalks will be made from Aluminium and CNC machined. I've gone for a sleek design which points up slightly which gives the ball joint a bit more movement for adjustment.

The threads will be tapped into the base, meaning that the original M5 bolts (from factory mirrors) can be used making installation easier.

The finish will be bare aluminium, although I will be getting mine anodised black, so if we do a batch in black we can share the cost of this. Alternatively, people could get them painted if they want them in bodycolour for example.

Costs are of course very important, at the moment, it looks like it'll be around £260, per pair, if we can get 5 sets made. (this is just the stalks, Magical Racing mirrors must be bought separately)

A few people have already expressed interest, please respond on here / pm me if you're provisionally interested. Payment will be required up front before the production process starts.

One thing though... Is there a better way to mount the arms to the mirrors other than using screws?

cheers

Mark

The screws hold the plate in place which is how the ball joint attaches. This is essential to work for the ball joint and the screws allow you to tighten it up. Personally I don’t mind them, they’re in the underside of the mirror so pretty inoffensive from angles you normally view the mirror from.

7 hours ago, Andy Norman said:

These carbon mirrors. Are they based in Japan on a Japanese Web Page or am I being a muppet. It’s option 4 yeah?

When this happens I literally just get the carbon mirrors ordered, does the screw mount come fitted to the mirror base?

Anyone know the delivery time once the carbon mirrors are ordered from MRMirrors web site.

The mirrors are the type 4 option and I believe you have to pick a stalk from them. Of course this won’t be used if you purchase a stalk with me and can easily be removed to fit my stalk instead.

Share on other sites

The screws hold the plate in place which is how the ball joint attaches. This is essential to work for the ball joint and the screws allow you to tighten it up. Personally I don’t mind them, they’re in the underside of the mirror so pretty inoffensive from angles you normally view the mirror from.

The mirrors are the type 4 option and I believe you have to pick a stalk from them. Of course this won’t be used if you purchase a stalk with me and can easily be removed to fit my stalk instead.

I haven't done a huge amount of miles this summer compared to my usual as I've been busy with other things, but lets start with some photos I took at sunrise last month.

Since then, I've made a few changes to the car, mainly on the interior (again). I was never fully satisfied with it before and felt it could be improved. The first thing was something I'd been wanting to do for a while, change the Mercedes vents out for something a bit more premium. One of my favourite designs of round air vents (sad I know) are the Ferrari F12 air vents. They're made of metal, feel very premium, have a full range of motion, and most importantly didn't have a Ferrari logo!

They were a perfect fit, so actually swapped with very little work from the shape of the dash which had previously been modified to make the mercedes vents fit.

Next up was some retrimming of the horrible cheap materials which Lotus had used. D:Class were very helpful again and took to the challenge, so I dropped off the door cards, the dash top and the steering column surround with them, along with a detailed email with what I was after. I did of course allow a little bit of creative freedom again with them and they added a few touches which really make it.

While the dash top was out, this seemed an ideal time to upgrade the front speakers. I decided to go for 2 way Focal speakers which are lovely quality and sound brilliant. Of course, with a separate tweeter, an extra hole in the dash top was required, which D:Class did perfectly.

I also installed my GPS racelogic display in the dash. I have always wanted a neat solution for this and this is the best I could come up with. I might buy another carbon dash panel to swap out for when I'm on the road.

Door cards are diamond stitched to match the stitching on my Tillett seats (window switch surround has since been painted black and added back)

Here you can see how it all ties in, with black diamond stitch on the dash top, yellow diamond stitch on the doors, a scattering of carbon and some Ferrari vents

The finished interior! A few more things planned for another stage, but I'm incredibly happy for now!

Next up is my new mirror stalks, I'm super happy with the look, they're a lot thinner than other stalk designs and look a lot nicer IMO. The prototype is now done and the mounting is absolutely rock solid. Tested yesterday at Snetterton and absolutely perfect. We'll be taking orders asap.

Most recent thing was a bit of an impulse purchase... a carbon boot lid!

Tempted to paint it yellow, although it seem most people are against that...

Last thing is a small report on the trackday at Snetterton yesterday. It was an absolutely brilliant day, made by having so many friends from here also on track. My car was great apart from the ABS kicking in too much going into the hairpins and causing me to overshoot them quite often!

Was interesting following a 380 Cup through the fast corners, he was totally planted where the back of mine was sliding a bit. The big wing clearly does work, although I still like the look without it. When we got to the straight, I just cruised past, and the owner of the 380 later came over wondering what on earth my car was, saying he thought there was something wrong with his car which was amusing!

Looking at the data after the trackday, it was very interesting to see how I compared to David Pittard's benchmark lap he set in my car. I was 1.1s slower than him, but I reckon with another day there I could set a similar time (he had the same issue with the ABS, so lost about 1s there). Having said that, I didn't really find Snetterton that exciting, I much prefer Silverstone and I think Donnington will be next on my list.

Share on other sites

Great to meet you at Snetterton, ‘‘tis true I was impressed with your car. Looks great, specifically the digital dash and interior.

Your car has some serious grunt! Nicely driven also My CUP 380 just got blasted on the straight!

Would you be so kind to consider me for when you do a wing mirror stalk order, they look brilliant.

Thanks

Greg

Was great to meet you Greg, and following you on track was just awesome!

I'll add you to the provisional list, we're really close now, but as with all things with suppliers, it's the final hurdles which take the most time. We had to make an angle change on the first prototype (the one which was on my car at the trackday) which took some time, and I've now decided I want the ball joint to be totally solid. On the prototype it's connected using a screw thread, and with permanent thread lock, this should be solid, but I want to go that extra step and use a small bit of ali weld on the underside to make sure that it can't move. I'm sure the people buying them will appreciate the extra care being taken, and some small delays are less important than getting the perfect finished product IMO.

Share on other sites

Where did you get the carbon engine cover from? I love this one but thought it was 6.000.000 € from Lotus..

I got it from someone on instagram, he's got one more, but @BatMobile asked if he could get it at the trackday, so it might be gone soon!

Back on the subject of Snetterton, unfortunately my GoPro was full by the afternoon (note to self, buy bigger microSD cards for next time...), but this was a respectable lap during the morning. I was 6 seconds quicker on my fastest lap of the day, improved thanks to getting more confident with the track and what speeds I can hold through certain corners, plus better lines. I also realised that I didn't really need second gear apart from in corner two as the car has so much torque, the extra two gear changes were hurting my times.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Discovered why my ABS was causing issues on the trackday. I thought it was a warped disc, changed it over today and it turned out to be a big crack all the way to the edge on the rear face of the disc. Lesson learned to check both sides of the disc before trackdays. I already had a spare disc in the garage, but ordered another from @Seriouslylotus which I’ll fit on the other side next week before I drive it again. Also worth saying that the holes in the discs were full of brake dust so won’t have been able to cool too well. If I’d cleared the holes out they might have lasted a little longer.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Cross-drilled disks are not really a good choice for active real use of the car, I'd always go for slotted brake disks in any performance car (and will do so once current stock disks are done). You've been lucky with this crack, fingers crossed for the luck to continue.

1 hour ago, GFWilliams said:

Also worth saying that the holes in the discs were full of brake dust so won’t have been able to cool too well

Worth mentioning that holes and slots are normally not really for cooling, but for removal of the gasses from the face of the brake pad under hard use

Share on other sites

Cross-drilled disks are not really a good choice for active real use of the car, I'd always go for slotted brake disks in any performance car (and will do so once current stock disks are done). You've been lucky with this crack, fingers crossed for the luck to continue.

Worth mentioning that holes and slots are normally not really for cooling, but for removal of the gasses from the face of the brake pad under hard use

Easy to say, but when faced with spending £1300+ on upgraded rear brakes vs £300 for new stock discs, I’ll stick to stock for now. Eventually I’ll upgrade when funds allow as I’m sure the car will feel better with more rear braking power. I personally think drilled are okay as long as you keep an eye on them, I made the mistake of not checking the rear face of them unfortunately otherwise they would have been replaced before the trackday!

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Easy to say, but when faced with spending £1300+ on upgraded rear brakes vs £300 for new stock discs, I’ll stick to stock for now. Eventually I’ll upgrade when funds allow as I’m sure the car will feel better with more rear braking power. I personally think drilled are okay as long as you keep an eye on them, I made the mistake of not checking the rear face of them unfortunately otherwise they would have been replaced before the trackday!

Is there not an affordable non drilled option? It's the holes that effectively make the structure weaker...

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

For the car that is being used properly, I'd always prioritise critically important things like tyres, brakes, all the fluids, suspension over cosmetic improvements. Understand it is just a matter of priorities.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

As always, great service from @Seriouslylotus - I fitted the new discs and pads this afternoon (quite a simple job thanks to the drum handbrake). They're a second hand set, but in good condition. Nice to not have to bed them in myself, so I could go straight out and test them. Hard to tell from a short drive on the road, but they feel much better and ABS isn't cutting in early now, which makes a big difference. Now need to give the car another clean, then it's MOT on Saturday.